Bank of America employee sentenced for taking $1.2M in bribes

A former Bank of America employee from Thousand Oaks was sentenced Monday to two and a half years in federal prison for taking more than $1.2 million in bribes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said.

Kevin Lauricella, 29, was also ordered to pay $5.7 million in restitution to Bank of America and forfeit the home that he bought with some of the bribe money, prosecutors said.

He worked for Bank of America in 2010 and 2011 and was responsible for negotiating short-sale transactions, which take place when the borrower can no longer make the payments due on the loan or because the value of the property has dropped below the amount due. The lender then allows a property to be sold for less than the existing loan balance.

Lauricella used his position to approve fraudulent short sales, resulting in at least $5.7 million in bank losses, officials said. He pleaded guilty in January to receiving bribes and making false entries in the bank’s books and records.

Prosecuting attorney Ranee Katzenstein said the Lauricella case is part of a larger probe and that investigators are looking into the parties who offered the bribes in exchange for approving their short sales.

Lauricella approved short sales he was not authorized to approve that were far below the fair-market value of the properties, Katzenstein said.

His lawyer did not immediately reply to a phone message seeking comment.